the future's for discovering / the space in which we travel in

I'm going to get better about blogging. I've been slacking. I've got a few builds finishing up here soon, one more fix up, and a new guitar style build coming up, as well as a few theme parties, t-shirt making, and "band practice" in the upcoming weeks.

More Confesssions:

But I still think The Black Keys could be one of the best things on the planet right now. Blues-rock. Loud. Just two people. Cool guitars. Smart name.

Confession:

I like Paramore. So what? Yes, they're mainstream. Yes, they have a female lead. Yes, she has orange hair. No, red hair. Wait, its both now.

Cool staccato riffs and timed stops. Dynamic drumming. Teen angst. A tiny little girl with a gigantic voice. I like all those things. Just don't tell anyone.

and Hayley is a plus, too.





v

despite the devil

I got the chance to work on a friend's guitar recently.

It was (at one point) an olympic white MIM telecaster. It had an extended career with a guitarist in a popular local band, and had obviously been beat to hell. Teles are pretty stout to begin with, they're solid blocks of alder with the neck bolted on in 4 places with no tremolo routes or other weak spots. They're tanks. This specific tele looked as if it had been smashed on-stage multiple times and then repaired and played again, then smashed again. There were (and are) huge cracks and gouges out of the sides and corners of the thick Poly finish, from swinging it by the neck into amps, cabs, or the ground. Weather checking along the forearm rest from constant temperature changes. The control cavity shorted out if you pressed too hard. A control knob was missing. The guitar "hummed" loudly through amps when not even being played. The strings were ancient.

My friend had acquired this guitar and wanted to see if it could be fixed or if it was junk. A good once-over was all it took to see that not only could I probably fix it - It could probably be a seriously nice guitar. It was once, it could be again.

Here's the guitar in its "day". Its the white guitar being used for lead electric, in the frame for most of the clip:


So I totally disassembled it, clipped all the electronics apart, and cleaned it as best as I could. The neck in particular was a very nice neck, lightly flamed maple and a dark rosewood fretboard that cleaned up and got even darker with some lemon & bore oil. I shielded the body cavity and pickguard with conductive copper tape and re-soldered all the pickups, pots, and switch and re-assembled it. I got to play it for about 20 mins before I had to take it back. It sounded fantastic - no shorting out, no hum... A solid guitar. Its still got the beat up look to it and will for the rest of its life, but it plays smooth, sounds great, and looks cool. Here's a few pictures I mangaged to snap.
*click for bigger photos*

The definition of 'contempt'

I hate Karl Rove. He's the perfect icon for the Administration he used to work for. The chief scoff-law in an Administration full of scoff-laws. Mr. Rove is also nothing short of a political genius, too, which makes me hate him all the more.

This picture was too priceless and well framed to not include. Karl Rove was subpoenaed by Congress to testify on the questionable dismissal of several federal prosecutors. Bushy didn't want him to testify and Rove now claims that some kind of executive privilege or presidential something-or-other that means he doesn't have to testify to Congress.

Ahem.

The separation of powers. Checks and Balances. Rove, I know you know this. There's nothing that trumps a Congressional subpoena. They can subpoena the effing President if they want to. Get your ass in that chair.

Its seriously time to hold this Administration and their buddies accountable. They aren't kings, and its time the rule of law held some weight again.

Karl Rove missed subpoena. I want him arrested. Held in contempt. Stop pissing on the constitution.

YOU PEOPLE ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW. These powers were listed in the constitution as specific checks to your own powers. You can't trump them. They're un-trump-able. This is what they're for.

Pelosi better have the nuts to hold him in contempt. Its time out Democratic Congress acted like they have a backbone.

Vanessa Carlton

I've had a not so secret crush on Vanessa Carlton since high school. Piano rock is the coolest, and so are female singer songwriters that play it. She's in DSM this week, and you can be damn sure I'll be there.

our signal

an except from:
"We are winning"
-The Flobots

We are building up a new world.
Do not sit idly by.
Do not remain neutral.
Do not rely on this broadcast alone.
We are only as strong as our signal.
There is a war going on for your mind.
If you are thinking, you are winning.
Resistance is victory.
Defeat is impossible.
Your weapons are already in hand.
Reach within you and find the means by which to gain your freedom.
Fight with tools.
Your fate, and that of everyone you know
Depends on it.

"There is a fight going on for your mind - if you're thinking, you're winning..."

Only in Texas

Can 1st degree murder be aquitted as self-defence. Joe Horn is a murderer, hiding behind the sham of righteous self defence.

This is a perfect story of Texas attitudes meet modern civilizaition. This is why the 2nd amendment grants the rights to firearms to QUALIFIED state militias, not any cowboy wannabe with a violent streak and a heart full of hate.

Here's the link to the AP story. Essentially, Joe Horn saw two men climbing out the window of his neighbors house with bags. The two men were illegal immigrants and, yes, they were burglarizing his neighbors house. That's a crime. But here's what's interesting. Joe had enough time to call 911. During this phone call, he told the operator that he had a shotgun and was going outside to shoot them and to send the authorities. The operator pleaded with him to stay in the house, the police were already on their way.
"You want to make a bet?" Horn answered. "I'm going to kill them."
After the shooting, he redialed 911.
"I had no choice," he said, his voice shaking. "They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice. Get somebody over here quick."
Horn had shot both men in the BACK with a 12 guage shotgun. Both men were unarmed.

Now, those are the facts. Here's where I get op/ed on you:
Horn's lawyers plead that he had 'no choice' and acted in self defence. My problem with that is that Horn was told repeatedly to stay in his home by the 911 operator. He refused, and told the operator that he was going outside to kill them. I'm sorry, Joe, even if they're criminals, you're not the law, and that's called premeditated murder.
So you went outside with your mind set on killing them. I'm not sure what part of "self-defence" involves shooting two unarmed men in the fucking BACK with a shotgun... but apparently Texas is still shoot first and ask questions later territory.
You didn't have to go outside and confront them. You'd already done your part. You notified the police. That's all you should have done. It wasn't your house, they weren't threatening you, even when you went outside with a gun. Obviously they'd turned their backs to you. Right before you killed them both. God Bless America, right?

Here's where it becomes obvious that I'm a liberal, not a conservative -
I just don't see why you killed them, Joe. Shoot into the air, shoot AT them, scare them off, whatever... I just don't think that unloading both barrells into unarmed men for a few hundred dollars worth of SHIT makes any sense. The owner of the house had insurance, he can replace his SHIT - these two men had families, friends, etc. Yes, they were committing a crime... a crime they would have gone to jail for a few years for. They were stealing materalistic SHIT. You stole their lives.

Texas may have different attitudes about justice than most of the world - Here's to hoping they've got a different God as well...

cause by any religion I can think of - you're going to hell, Joe.
I'm guessing Hernado Torres and Diego Ortiz will be there waiting for you.